K V Thomas

PAC Chairman K V Thomas today said a meeting with Finance Ministry officials has been deferred to February 10 in view of Budget preparations but RBI Governor Urjit Patel will appear before it as per schedule on January 20 on the demonetisation issue.

Congress candidate and Union Minister K V Thomas, seeking a fifth term from the prestigious Ernakulam constituency, is taking on his close friend and political novice Christy Fernandez, who is contesting as a CPI(M)-backed independent.

Government is likely to take a final call before this Christmas on a bailout package for the sugar industry that includes Rs 7,200 crore of interest-free bank loans to pay dues to sugarcane growers, Food Minister K V Thomas said Wednesday.